For Wellbeing Wednesday this week, we've provided you with some information and helpful contacts at the Samaritans.
The Samaritans are a passionate group of volunteers who want to help people. The service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with over 22,000 volunteers across the UK ready to listen to people who need help and support.
There are several different ways in which you can contact the Samaritans, by phone, email or letter. However, the Samaritans have recently launched two new resources called ‘Finding Your Way’ and a Samaritans Self – Help app, which aims to look at helping people to cope before they reach crisis point, which also compliments their listening services.
Jay Cox – Newport Outreach Manager says that she would encourage anyone to get in touch. Jay says ‘it is so important to speak to someone when you are feeling low, and whilst we will not be able to solve your problems for you, we can listen and support and guide you to be able to help yourself.’
‘We welcome people of all ages to contact us, and have seen an increase in young people calling, which is great that they feel that they can open up and reach out. You can remain totally anonymous and our telephone number will not show on any telephone bill. It is okay to feel how you do and to not be silent about it – that is where we can step in to support you and listen.’
Jay continues ‘it is important that people know that when they contact us, that they are not likely to bump into me in the street. We are often connected to people from all over the UK, and in the time that I have volunteered here, not once have I spoken to someone in Wales, which I hope will reassure people wanting to reach out, that we cannot identify you in any way, unless you wish to disclose your information.’ The Samaritans Self Help App is downloadable from the main Samaritans website Self-Help | Samaritans where you can take positive action to help yourselves to track your mood, try different techniques to challenge and cope with difficult feelings, keep a track of helpful activities and also for you to be able to create a safety plan to keep yourself safe when you are in crisis.
The Samaritans have also recently launched a new resource for Wales called ‘Finding Your Way – A Guide For Anyone Who Is Struggling To Cope.’ Finding your way – A guide for anyone who is struggling to cope | Samaritans Cymru
The resource is free to download and says that the guide is for anyone who is feeling low and finding life very difficult.
Struggling to cope with everyday life doesn’t look or feel the same for everyone. There could be a number of reasons as to why you are contributing to how you are feeling and often, you may be unable to pinpoint the reason as to why you feel the way that you do.
It is important to know that even if you don’t have family or friends that you can talk to, that you know that you can reach out to The Samaritans and talk openly about how you are feeling, without fear of judgement, humiliation or embarrassment.
Your feelings matter, you have not let anyone down and you are not a burden to anyone. You deserve to feel well.
Recent statistics show that 1 in 4 of us struggle with our mental health at any one time, and if we consider that in terms of our home crowd – that is on average 1000 people within our own ground on a match day that struggle to varying degrees with their mental health.
With Christmas fast approaching, this could be a time when people find it increasingly difficult. Without loved ones, increased loneliness, finding it difficult to choose between heating or eating, never mind purchasing gifts. The pressure of everyday life and expectation, could mean that some people may feel particularly low.
We encourage anyone to reach out for help and support, to use this guide and app and of course in an emergency to gain that crisis support.
To contact the Samaritans you can do so here:
Telephone: 116 123
Letter: Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS Email: jo@samaritans.org
Support in Welsh: 0808 164 0123
If you would prefer to use a text service then please contact:
Shout: text SHOUT to 85258
If you have harmed or are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, please call 999. Alternatively, please support the person in taking them along to their local A&E department.